Industry News
Team USA can look back on a successful weekend at the Swedish resort Idre Fjäll with three podium finishes and a series of top-10 finishes for its athletes. Friday, December 8, 2023, saw the Men’s and Women’s Moguls events, while Saturday, December 9, 2023, saw the Duals events. The Duals is based on the results from the previous day’s moguls results, with the skiers facing each other off in an elimination-style race.
The Men’s Moguls event was won by Canada’s Mikael ‘the King’ Kingsbury, with 85.02 points, more than five points ahead of Team USA’s Nick Page in second place and Filip Gravenfors from Sweden in third with 79.55 and 79.53 points respectively. The defending 22/23 World Cup champion came back strong from last weekend’s somewhat disappointing result (by ‘the King’s’ standards) in Ruka, where he had finished with less than 80 points in third place. Kingsbury reclaims the yellow leaderbib from Japan’s Ikuma Hiroshima, who only finished in sixth place after some point deductions on the somewhat tricky new course in Idre Fjäll. Cole McDonald finished in eight place with 75.86 points while Dylan Walczyk finished in 17th, Landon Wendler in 21st, and Dylan Marcellini in 30th.
The Women’s Moguls event was won by Australia’s Jakara Anthony with 79.74 points which means she remains in the yellow leaderbib. Second place went to Japan’s Rino Yanagimoto with 72.42 points, slightly ahead of third-placed Olivia Giaccio with 72.16 points from the U.S. The following four spots all went to Team USA, with Tess Johnson in fourth, Jaelin Kauf in fifth, Elizabeth Lemley in sixth, and Hannah Soar in seventh. Kai Owend finished in 12th place while Ali Macuga finished in 33rd.
On Saturday the athletes faced each other in the elimination-style run Duals. Both Nick Page as well as Dylan Walczyck managed to advance to the round of 16, where the two American skiers faced each other. The Dual between the two teammates saw Nick Page advance to the quarter-finals where he lost out to Rasmus Stegfeldt from Sweden. Advancing to the semi-final were Mikael Kingsbury, Stegfeldt, and his teammates Walter Wallberg, and Ikuma Horishima. Kingsbury narrowly won against Wallberg, meaning he advanced to the Big Final, while Stegfeldt advanced from his Dual run against Ikuma Horishima. The Small Final of Horishima versus Wallberg saw the Japanese claim the third spot on the podium while Kingsbury won the Big Final against Stegfeldt. It is the Swedish skier’s first career World Cup podium.
The Women’s Duals saw all seven American women advance to the round of 16 and five advancing to the quarter-finals. The Duals system where the top skier faces off against the bottom skier from the previous day’s moguls results meant that due to their close ranking, the American women did not face each other until the round of 16. Olivia Giaccio won against teammate Ali Macuga and advanced to face Jaelin Kauf in the quarter-final. Jaelin Kauf came away victorious and advanced to the semi-final, where Kauf dualed Jakara Anthony. Kauf advanced from here to the Big Final, where she skied against Japan’s Rino Yanagimoto and won with a smashing 26-9, taking the victory. Johnson finished in fifth, Giaccio in sixth, Soar in seventh, and Owens in eighth. Kauf takes the yellow leaderbib for Dual Moguls.
